No news on the Realtor front, but...

I am in the process of painting two copies of this new design for a bloodhound breeder out west. Also painting a couple of traditional designs for orders that had been on hold for the move, so the paint studio is up and at least limping along. Had to give up painting this evening, pending more -- or at least different -- illumination once the sun went down.

While painting this, several other designs have been percolating in the back of my mind. I have friends here with goats and chickens... a gardener friend who also has chickens and ducks... somewhere now is lurking a line of "barn blessings" that will feature a custom assortment of relevant critters and a symbolic plant, I think. The designs will have to be a bit different as these creatures will need different blessings than the working bloodhounds for which this sign was made to bless them with strength and protection.

On other fronts, though there has been no movement on the house and land front, I was surprised yesterday by a phone call from a job referral at the Bangor Career Center, to which I had faxed a resume. The job, for technical support and administrative coordinator seemed to have my name written all over it -- other than wanting the employee to book reservations for his guide business, the tasks could have been straight off the playbook from my former job in NC, even to the title "administrative coordinator."

The company owner called with great interest, and scheduled an appointment with me for late this afternoon, even though he said he had filled the position for which I applied. I had sent him my "administrative" resume rather than my "design/tech" one but when we sat down to talk, it seemed that what he was really looking for, and apparently had yet to find, was a competent, reliable and affordable webmaster. The longer we talked, the more uncomfortable he seemed to get... my sense of this was that it was caused by having filled his jobs and yet knowing that he needed my skills... so I pulled out the single Vision business card I had on me (having just had them reprinted with my Maine contact info) and introduced myself wearing my other hat.

Our meeting went on for 2 hours, discussion, talk of $$, feeling each other out and eventually ending up at the computer in his office, looking at, dissecting and trouble shooting his sites. So it appears that I went looking for a job and instead found a client. He is going to put together his thoughts on changes for the first of his three sites that needs work and we meet again on Tues afternoon.

I have got to stop talking to The Powers That Be in my offhand manner.. it seems that is when they most often listen and those are the things they respond to... Last week after sending off my last big NC project for the National Park Service, I sent out the thought "Ok, now I need the Maine version of the Waterfowl Museum," meaning not that I needed to find a museum but that I needed to find a gatekeeper in the local community... someone with whom I would work and in working with them, would get the "in" and referrals like those from which I built my business in NC.

If my sense is right (and if often is) and he has made the sort of connections that someone successfully in business here for the last 25 yrs would have made, I have found him.

Now, all I need is LAND and A HOME! (you, up there... do you hear me??)